Good start to tackling pollution
Edwin Lau says the new administration's environmental team has shown it has the will to tackle pollution; now it just needs to find a way to act swiftly to implement meaningful policies
Two green-minded people have stepped into important positions in the new administration, tasked with taking charge of environmental matters. Secretary for the Environment Wong Kam-sing and undersecretary Christine Loh Kung-wai have both worked on green issues, in the private sector and in non-governmental organisations respectively, before joining the government.
Both want to pick up what was left undone or idle by the former administration to improve Hong Kong's environment. This gives hope to the public that the two will be more aggressive than their predecessors in pushing for change. Let's hope they lead us, through innovative policies and plans, to cut waste at source; reduce and reuse food waste; change our fuel mix for electricity generation to one that is cleaner; and cut carbon emissions from local and overseas vessels.
Encouragingly, for starters the government is now considering phasing out commercial diesel vehicles once they reach the age of 15, to tackle our health-threatening roadside pollution.
Both Wong and Loh appear to have vision and are eager to engage with stakeholders from various sectors. But they have a tough challenge: they will find it far easier to persuade the public to buy into some new policies than to garner the necessary support for these policies from the other bureaus, including the ones that look after transport, buildings, planning and the like.
Take roadside pollution, for example.
Chief Executive Leung Chung-ying told the Legislative Council on Wednesday that the government is concerned about the health impact of harmful emissions from vehicles and ships. He will need to break through the bureaucracy's silo mentality to facilitate the collaboration necessary to solve this problem.